Pails attached to barn or stable walls are commonly used to provide feed or water to animals such as horses. A problem arises, however, from the ability of an animal to nudge a pail during feeding or drinking, which results in a shifting of the pail from its original position or dislodging it entirely from its hanger, causing spillage of its contents.
Various solutions have been proposed as a solution to the aforementioned problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,415 to Arnold, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a bucket holder that includes a flat strip whose lower end engages and supports the lip of the bucket and whose upper end is provided with a clasp for imprisoning the bucket bail. The bucket lip is further secured by a flange overlying the lip and secured to the flat strip.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,205 to Ballester, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an assembly in which a pail having a flat wall portion provided with a downturned lip is secured to a wall by a hanger provided on its lower end with a flange for engaging the top edge of the downturned lip and on its upper end with a slidable lockpin for securing the handle of the pail.
A variety of hangers for securing other types of containers, in particular, plant and flower pots, to supports are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,764,384 to Kirsch; 3,091,424 to Yegge; and 4,623,113 to Studebaker. A device for securing a fishing bait bucket in a boat is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,648 to Schneider.
The need continues for a holder that supports and secures a standard watering or feeding pail for animals and is economical to manufacture, simple to install and use, and effective against spillage of the pail contents. The present invention meets this need.